President Barack Obama, trying to revive his administration's jobs-and-economy agenda, granted an exclusive interview to an Amazon.com official Tuesday, but the sit-down irked some in the White House press corps.
White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Obama will do the interview with David Blum, the editor of Amazon Kindle Singles, while visiting an Amazon.com distribution center in Chattanooga,
Politico reported. The interview will be available for free download Wednesday.
"WH disrupting the traditional media to get message out?" CNN White House correspondent Jessica Yellin asked.
Obama's visit to the Amazon.com warehouse also rankled the American Booksellers Association, industry trade publication
Publishers Weekly reported.
In a letter to the White House, the ABA called Obama's choice of the facility for a jobs and economy speech "woefully misguided," complaining the online retailer is "harming small businesses and the American economy" by shifting business from bricks-and-mortar stores to the online giant, PW reported.
Amazon has announced it will add 7,000 jobs at its regional shipping and customer service centers, and that its workers will make 30 percent more than traditional retailer staffers, the
Los Angeles Times reported, estimating the figure at $11 an hour.
"At a time when Main Street retailers, including indie bookstores, show promise of recovering from the recession, we are disheartened to see Amazon touted as a 'jobs creator' and its warehouse facility used as a backdrop for an important jobs speech, when, frankly, the exact opposite is true,"ABA Chief Executive Oren Teicher wrote, the Times reported.
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